Monster Inside of Me
by veritas aniki
Summary: Can't Seventh spare a clone for his family? PS: I'll thank you to "jixie-unofficial" from reddit to beta this story as i convert it for English language. Yeah, English isn't my native language. I wrote this when Boruto first aired in order fix this "why not just put a clone for family" arguments, kind of like a fix fic. Do warn me on mistakes please -like "genre" maybe- thank you.


"You sure this will work?"

"A Jinchuuriki isn't immune to Genjutsu. That's just a common misconception. The ninja who works with the monster inside them can break a Genjutsu with chakra trading."

"So, it'll work?"

The child's eyes squeezed tight before snapping open, revealing red eyes. His first reaction was to squint, then as pain rapidly increased, a scream exploded from his lungs. A silhouette carefully reached for the boy, gradual but without hesitation, almost in slow motion. Hand cradling the screaming child's head, the silhouette made no attempt to hold the small hands pressed against pained eyes. Instead, a light began to bloom, the green colour of a medical jutsu.

Uncontrollably shaking at first, the child's body started to relax. The screams fell silent as the pain eased. With this accomplished, shadowy figure began to speak.

"It seems you still need to rest. But don't worry, little one. You're the one who will beat the Seventh Hokage. like you asked for..."

Naruto didn't think being a Hokage would be this much work.

"Why is there so much paperwork?" the Seventh muttered to himself.

Did other Hokages have to do as much filing as him? He used to watch the Third Hokage in his office, but never saw this much paper. At least... that's how he remembered it. He was only a kid back then, so maybe his memories were faulty.

Right after that thought, he put his hands in motion in order to use that jutsu. His most known jutsu, activated with this single hand gesture, putting two fingers like a 'plus' sign.

"No you don't."

Right before he could use his chakra, he heard the voice of a ninja. A familiar one, a friend. The cigarette hanging from his lips was something he took from his Sensei and his general appearance is from his father. Not only that, but his father also worked as a Hokage's advisor.

"You already have clones all over the Leaf Village. Don't even think about another, if you can't spare a single one for your son."

The boredom on Naruto's face turned to dismay. Of course his friend Shikamaru wasn't trying to upset him. He knew that. He also knew why he couldn't even do this simple paperwork- and it had nothing to do with how boring it was. He was running out of chakra. The clones Shikamaru mentioned really put a heavy burden on Naruto's shoulders. That's why his advisor was so stern. Otherwise, he wouldn't have interfered.

Grumbling, Shikamaru scratched his head and sighed.

"'Don't even think' because that's my job, right? About your son's mission-"

Naruto's face brightened just hearing this. Then a mixture of parental responsibility set in.

"Really? But what about..."

"I already handled it. It was a troublesome and I'll take a paid vacation, just so you know!"

"Thanks a lot Shikamaru! I'll buy you a ramen, later!"

Naruto took off, leaving the room. Shikamaru already knew that he'd never take that vacation. Just because he'd handled a few things for this specific event, didn't mean everything else wouldn't collapse the moment he was absent. He grumbled out of habit.

It was a simple mission: catch an animal. Literally every single Genin had to do this kind of mission. No biggie. Which was why someone like Seventh Hokage could join in as a temporary Sensei. Even Boruto was excited about this mission. Not because of the mission itself, but he was glad he finally got to spend some time with his father.

Naruto, on the other hand, only now realized that he didn't know how to behave around his son. What was he supposed to say? Should he be polite, because they were outside? Is he supposed to be formal, because it's a mission? Or would just acting casual be enough? Maybe he should ask Sasuke? He thought about his friend a lot lately. It had been ages since the last time they saw each other.

A scream cut through his thoughts. It was his son! A pain filled scream, one that no child should make. Naruto moved like a speeding bullet, the way people would describe as 'my body acted all on its own.'

He'd been waiting outside the cave because the Genin was supposed to do this job in order to learn. The Seventh had also decided it was best to stay far away, because he still didn't know how to act around his son. It was ridiculous. What was there even to decide? This was his son, dammit! He didn't have to _do_ anything, just be there!

In mere moments he was in front of the stranger holding his son. The instant his attack connected, the figure disappeared. A familiar white cloud filled the air around his lightning-fast punch. The powerful ninja focused on his chakra in order to move even faster. But then he stopped. The clone that had just disappeared wasn't there as a decoy. It'd been there to hide those two red eyes: another child, under the influence of Sharingan. The three black tomoe started to fidget, merging in the middle of red irises, changing into something else. It happened so fast that even someone like Naruto- someone who could throw a punch almost at the speed of light- couldn't even blink. Even if he could, it wouldn't matter.

Because the jutsu was already in motion.

In a last ditch attempt he turned to his inner world. There once was a cage here, but no longer. There was no need to cage a friend. Only... when he got there, there wasn't any of the familiar water-like world. Nor the pale yellow lights. The person before him wasn't the friend he knew. It looked like it, but this was something else, something more terrifying.

"Kurama!? Your eyes…"

Kurama's eyes changed, red with three tomoe, just like what had happened in the real world. He'd seen this before, when the fearsome Madara took control of the nine-tailed-fox. Except that time the fox was a real being, as big as a thousand year old tree, and terrorizing the leaf village.

Which was a problem. How did those eyes manage to do that... inside his seal? It was to contain the beast from the outside world. Which then turned into a weapon, then a friend. There shouldn't be any way to contact with nine-tail-fox from outside. Or so he thought. Thinking about it now... Sasuke did this before, when he was still with Orochimaru.

"Genjutsu! Kurama, I need your chakra to break it!" yelled Naruto. He knew it'll high likely won't work but that doesn't mean he won't try.

The sealed fox didn't help in the end. He'd been possessed by the red eyes of Sharingan. No, a mere Sharingan wouldn't be able to do such a trick. Considering the changing shapes in the eyes right before he fell unconscious, it was supposed to be a Mangekyo Sharingan. Knowing that didn't stop this feeling. This anger, this madness, slowly but steadily consuming him from under his feet.

In the real world, Boruto saw a red chakra around his father, instead of the usual yellow-orange.

"Seventh!"

His father's flesh tore away, mixing with the red chakra, turning him into something else. Naruto no longer looked human, taking on a four tailed, half-fox, half-man shape. How many years had it been since this happened? Last time, it was against another powerful doujutsu called Rinnegan. It happened before too, he hurt his beloved teammate Sakura. Even way before that, he hurt his master and father figure Jiraiya. Now, giving an inner fight with this feeling, he struggled to make a move. Crushing the earth under his feet, the shockwave he unleashed was enough to cause earthquakes.

The whole world was afraid of this. Naruto himself was afraid of this. It was a secret side of him that should be hidden- should _stay _hidden. The vivid memory came back, alive and kicking. But when Seventh tried to stop it, all he felt was anger. His mouth opened, a horrible maw, its splintered and jagged edges like fangs. He could hear the sound of rocks crunching between them. His eyes were blank, hollow white voids. He could see perfectly clear through them. It was like a nightmare. This was not Naruto, this was the destroyer of the world. This was a monster that must be stopped.

"Stop it! Before it destroys everything, including me!"

It dawned on Boruto just how big of a lie he'd been living under. His eyes teared up as he watched the figure in front of him. This time he couldn't even call out his name. With that, he realized that he'd never said it in the first place. Always used "Hokage" or "Seventh", same as everyone else. Why should he? All his father did was be the "Hokage" in the end. Not a parent. Not an actual father. Now, with reason and logic crushed right in front of him, he quietly mumbled that word.

"D-dad?"

The four-tailed monster suddenly disappeared. No, he hadn't disappeared… he just moved so fast that no eyes could follow him. The mastermind behind this- a dark silhouette he couldn't identify- was speaking to the other child- a boy with red eyes. All at once the pieces clicked into place, and Boruto realized...

...How their enemy had figured out how to put a Jinchuuriki under a genjutsu.

...How the most powerful weapon was now in his hands.

...How all he had to do was ask a specific Genin to do this simple mission.

"Now I can show the world what they'd forgotten! How much of a monster their heros are! How these monsters allow children like you and me become orphans in this cruel-"

So engrossed in the passionate speech he was giving, the shadowy figure didn't even realize he'd just been killed by four-tail beast he created. No, he was aware, he was expecting it. He wanted it. Because now, even if he failed, Boruto would know. Even if it was _only_ Boruto who knew... that would be enough. So much so that he was willing to sacrifice himself. Dying with a sadistic smile on his face, he left the two kids alone with four-tailed monster.

The monster turned his attention to the child on the floor. Covering his eyes, screaming in agony. Boruto was on the other side of the cave. The same blow that killed their enemy had sent him flying clear across, violently thrown by the shockwave. In the end, he was still a ninja, he wouldn't die from something like that. But the pain was so great, it felt like he was being slowly crushed into the ground.

"D-dad."

It was both foreign and familiar for his tongue. The more he said it, the more it warmed his heart, easing the fear.

"Dad, don't..."

He tried to reach the monster with words, as the four-tailed-beast opened his mouth, collecting a chakra ball. It was obvious beast was aiming at the screaming kid on the ground. With the chakra ball in his mouth, he swallowed it. The earth shattered under his feet, the beast steadily growing larger with every passing second.

It hurt to breathe, it hurt to speak. All Boruto could do was fight through the pain, shouting in a desperate attempt to reach Naruto.

"Dad! Don't do it!"

The attack would kill anyone on the site. Being in proximity of the explosion alone could harm you, even kill you…

...and Boruto's cries went unheard.

Finally, he was going home. How long had it been? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he report the information he'd gained from his journey. Maybe he could spend some time with his wife Sakura and daughter Sarada. ...after this debriefing. The mission wasn't over until then.

Even with one arm, Sasuke was still the most powerful ninja. These days it was rare anything gave him pause, but something stopped this team seven member. He turned towards the evil chakra. He remembered this sense of uneasiness all too well.

"Naruto..."

He didn't even need to guess who it was, that he could figure out by a process of elimination. There are only nine Jinchuuriki in this world. And only one of them could display this kind of power. If he'd decided to come back to the village a second later...His daughter, his wife...

He charged at the feeling without a thought.

The earthquake was evidence enough. By the time Sasuke was inside the cave, he'd already activated his most powerful weapon. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He also had a rinnegan, but he wouldn't need it. Hopefully.

When he reached the source he'd already grasped the situation at hand. Before anything else, he looked into the monster's eyes.

"Sasuke?"

"What happened?"

"Sasuke! You have to stop this! Kurama is being controlled by Mangekyo Sharingan and so I couldn't-"

"Calm down, you damn scaredycat! Tell me what happened."

"What the hell! Watch your mouth you… oh."

Seventh finally realized. Sasuke was here. In his inner world. The last time this happened, Naruto was still chasing Sasuke. This time he was here as an ally, as a friend. He could trust him. Which helped calm him down. That was weird. Why was he so calm now? Naruto looked at his body. The shadows that broke his temper are gone.

"Right, the time isn't flow same here as it is in real life."

Despite the circumstances, he cracked a smile. Because everything was now under control. He knew he could trust Sasuke with this. He was the best at what Naruto was worst at: Genjutsu.

Sasuke had things figured out before Naruto even finished telling him what happened.

Having the most powerful Doujutsu, there shouldn't be a problem. He knew he should be careful anyway… because he didn't want to harm his friend.

Red chakra and blood disappeared, and Boruto woke with a start, dazed and disoriented. What the hell happened? He… couldn't remember? There was a strange ache in his body and the weariness that came after an adrenaline rush, his heart still beating fast. He felt… afraid, for reasons he couldn't put his finger on. Why? He was just hunting an animal with Hokage.

And who was this black haired ninja standing over him, anyway?

It was Naruto's idea. His son shouldn't know his dark past. No one should. As a leader of the Hidden Leaf village, the last thing he wanted was for any villager- Baruto included- to fear him that way. More than that, he was already failing at being a parent. Naruto couldn't leave his son with such disappointing knowledge about himself.

"Are you sure?" asked Sasuke, hair covering his half of the face.

The answer was a silent nod.

"Then you should stay away from him for a while. I was careful not to cause any brain damage, but that means he needs some time to completely forget what he saw."

"Yeah. Thanks, Sasuke. He shouldn't know what kind of monster is hidden inside his father. Can you go with him? I… should stay here for a while."

Sasuke gave no reply. He wasn't really the speaking type anyway, he just did what he was told. But he knew. He could see it in Naruto's face. There wasn't even the need to use any kind of trick to see his emotions, Sasuke knew him well enough to understand. Naruto was filled with regret. Not being with son and now manipulating his mind? This was a burden no father should bear...

When they get back, all Boruto would remember was hunting an animal as a Genin. Of course his father was absent again. That damn Hokage, all he does is work for village. Why couldn't he spare even a single clone for his family?


End file.
